


Electric Love

by ali3nb0y



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Gay, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:42:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24139816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ali3nb0y/pseuds/ali3nb0y
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke become good friends after being forced to work together on team 7. They like to be competitive, but its always for fun, and they are always watching out for each other (even if Sasuke would never admit it). When the chunin exams take place, Sasuke decides he wants more power and considers Orochimaru's offer. He leaves to find the sound village, but Naruto chases after him to stop him. Will he be able to keep his best friend from leaving? What will happen when they find out the truth about his brother Itachi? The world will never know... till you read this fic.Warning: Slow burn
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Yamato | Tenzou, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 5
Kudos: 27





	1. Cold, Kind, and Lemon Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> This will definitely diverge from canon in a lot of places. It's probably gonna be a long slow painful journey, so strap in. I'm not sure how many chapters this will be yet since even this first chapter ended up a little longer than I intended. Hopefully I can maintain a semi-regular upload schedule. Also, all the chapters are named after song titles that may or may not have anything to do with the chapter, so feel free to go listen to the song (This one is by Margot and the Nuclear So & So's).
> 
> Anyway, here it is.

Chapter 1: Cold, Kind, and Lemon Eyes

Naruto stared at the boy in front of him, ignoring all the girls yelling at him to get out of Sasuke’s face. He didn’t understand why everyone liked Sasuke. He was mean to just about everyone and was so incredibly full of himself that his own name must’ve been the first word he ever spoke. Not to mention how much time he must spend staring in the mirror every morning fixing his neatly styled hair. Even though Naruto was young, he knew Sasuke was attractive, in the same way he knew Sakura was attractive, but he didn’t think it mattered all that much since Sasuke was such a jerk. He didn’t understand why his pretty face warranted all the attention he received from the girls in his class. It’s not like Sasuke ever paid them any attention back. 

Sasuke stared right back at Naruto, not saying a word. He studied the deep blue eyes in front of him, not letting his expression show that he actually thought they were kind of...enchanting? Sasuke had never found anyone particularly attractive as a child, never had any crushes the way other kids in his class did. He was only focused on being the best in class and getting stronger to become a fully-fledged shinobi. Once he graduated from academy, he wouldn’t have to worry about all of the drama in the classroom and he could devote all of his time to training rather than avoiding the company of Sakura and Ino. 

Naruto’s eyes didn’t waiver from Sasuke’s, despite all of the people watching them. He just wanted to get a good look at the asshole that always called him an idiot. Naruto opened his mouth to say something to the boy in front of him when he felt a shoulder crash into his back, sending him forward onto Sasuke. Before he knew what was happening, his lips were locked onto Sasuke’s, and the other boy’s stone-cold expression was replaced with that of shock. Naruto heard high pitched screams around him before he pulled back, suddenly red in the face. 

He spit out, yelling “Gross, what the hell is wrong with you?!” at Sasuke.

“What’s wrong with me? You’re the one who kissed me you freak, I’m going to kill you,” Sasuke fired back, wiping his mouth on his sleeve, but otherwise staying still in his chair.

“That’s enough. Everyone take your seat. Naruto, I’d like to see you after class today,” said Iruka sensei to the class before starting on a lecture about chakra networks in the body. Naruto sulked back to his seat two rows behind Sasuke and glared at the back of his head. Now he really didn’t get why everyone liked him. It’s not like he meant to assault Sasuke or anything like that, he had been pushed. 

Naruto tried to focus on what Iruka sensei was saying, but could not for the life of him pay attention. He stared out the window at the mountain with the faces of the four Hokages, thinking about what kind of pranks he could pull this week. He liked concocting pranks because not only was it hilarious to see the Hokage’s face when he got caught, but he also felt a sense of pride and accomplishment, something he never felt about his work at the academy. 

At the academy, he could never focus well enough to learn what would be on the tests. He loved Iruka sensei, but his teaching style was never something that Naruto could gain much from. He wanted to succeed and graduate to become a shinobi, but he had no idea how to turn around and achieve that. He didn’t really have any friends in the academy, besides Iruka who would sometimes take him out for ramen. And he didn’t have anyone outside of school either. He didn’t have parents or any relatives that he knew of, and whenever he’d go outside he could hear the whispers about him from the adults in the street. Sometimes they were much more than whispers.

He tried to ignore the staring and pointing that he experienced everywhere he went, but it was hard not to feel isolated from everyone else in the village. He didn’t want to admit it, but it was half the reason he acted out so much (the other half being that it was just really fucking funny). He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his name. 

“Naruto!” he heard Sakura call his name, and his head snapped up to look at the pink-haired girl sitting next to Sasuke. “You idiot, don’t you ever pay attention, Iruka sensei asked you a question.”

“Oh… uh… sorry, could you repeat it?” Naruto said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. 

“I asked if you could name the five chakra natures, Naruto,” Iruka said calmly.

“Uhhhhh… earth, fire….water… and uhhhh… wind?” Naruto said hesitantly. He knew they matched with the elements, but could not for the life of him remember the last one. He knew this was basic knowledge that they had been taught before, but he never thought things like that were necessary. He just wanted to learn ninjutsu so that he could fight and be a real shinobi. 

“Can anyone remind Naruto of the last one?” 

“It's lightning, dobe,” Sasuke said flatly to Naruto, looking bored and annoyed with everyone in the classroom. Naruto grumbled and looked back out the window, thinking about how much he hated the smartass, vowing to try to mess with him later in the week. 

***

Naruto forgot that Iruka sensei had wanted him to stay after class, so he began to head out the door behind everyone else before he felt a hand on his shoulder.   
“Naruto, could you stay for just a moment?” Naruto turned back and sighed, looking up at his teacher who smiled down at him. “I was just wondering if there is anything going on? You haven’t been paying attention at all lately, and the graduation exam is coming up. I know the way this class is taught, it’s not the easiest for you to follow because you learn in a more hands-on way, so I just wanted to know if there was anything I could do to help. I don’t want you to fail the exam,” Iruka said.

“I am too paying attention!” Naruto shouted defensively. “I just don’t care about learning about chakra, I want to learn interesting stuff.”

“And you will get to learn more interesting things, but before you can do that, you need to have a good grasp on the basics. Why don’t we go grab some dinner at Ichiraku?” Iruka posed. 

“All right! You’re the best, Iruka sensei!” Naruto exclaimed as the two walked out of the classroom and down the street to his favorite ramen shop. Naruto finished four bowls before slowing down.

“Hey Naruto, let’s make a deal. If you study and pass your graduation exam next month, I’ll take you out again for ramen and you can order as many bowls as you want, how’s that sound?” the young teacher said, smiling down at the hyperactive child next to him, hoping he can find some alternative way to get Naruto to care about school. 

“Ughh, fine Iruka sensei, but if I pass, I get to order extra pork too,” Naruto said, a big smile appearing on his face despite not wanting to put a lot of effort into his academy work.

“That sounds perfect, Naruto, just make sure you work on your transformation jutsu before the exam.” The two finished their meals, and Iruka paid, quietly grimacing at the state of his wallet, but not letting the blond notice. He cared a lot for Naruto, it seemed like he was one of the only adults, shinobi or otherwise, who actually took the time to get to know the kid and look past the beast he carried within him. He was sure that Naruto knew the reason for the treatment he received, but they had never explicitly discussed it. Everyone had orders from the Hokage to not discuss the nine-tails or the boy’s parents with Naruto.

Naruto waved goodbye to his teacher and began to walk home. His apartment wasn’t too far away, but Naruto wasn’t tired or willing to tackle his homework, so he took the long way home, walking slowly and kicking up dirt and rocks with his feet. It wasn’t quite dark yet. He could see the sun setting behind the trees in the distance. He walked down to the edge of the river that ran through the village, walking next to the water but not getting his feet wet. 

He figured Iruka sensei was right, he did need to step up if he were going to pass the graduation exam in a few weeks. He had already been able to tailor the transformation jutsu into his own sexy jutsu in order to cause trouble in class, how hard could it be to do it for real? Naruto stopped in a clearing of trees by the river, an area with enough room for him to try out the jutsu a few times and not cause any significant damage. He knew as well as the Hokage did how good he was at accidentally (or purposely) causing damage to his surroundings. 

He breathed in and pictured the old man’s robed figure, before moving his hands and performing the jutsu, shouting “Transformation jutsu!” loudly and proudly. In a puff of smoke, his body changed and he looked down to find that he’d at least gotten the outfit right. He couldn’t actually see his own face to see if he’d nailed it or not. Usually that was the part he messed up, even though he was good at remembering faces. 

He stared down into the slow-moving water of the river to see a face that wasn’t his but wasn’t quite that of the Hokage either. The child cursed under his breath, realizing he hadn’t quite gotten it. In another puff of smoke, he was back to his own body. 

He tried again and again until he was exhausted and mostly confident in his ability to transform into both the Hokage and Iruka sensei. He knew it wasn’t perfect and he’d have to keep working on it, but he had a few weeks still. Ramen with extra pork wasn’t the only thing driving him to finally study for the exam. He was anxious to get his headband, to prove he wasn’t the failure his classmates saw him as. 

Naruto began to walk again along the edge of the river, vaguely in the direction of his apartment. A noise in front of him caused him to pause and look around. It was dark out now, and the moon was hidden behind the clouds above, leaving little light for him to see who was sitting on the riverbank 20 feet in front of him. 

He walked toward the dark figure who ignored him completely. He got close enough to realize who it was, and jumped back a foot when a head turned toward him and menacing black eyes stared at him, not saying a word. 

“Geez, Sasuke! What the hell are you doing out here so late? You scared me half to death!” Naruto shouted.

“Hn,” Sasuke grunted in return. “Your transformation jutsu is pathetic. You don’t even look like Iruka sensei or Hokage-sama, you just look like you’re playing dress-up, usuratonkachi.”

“That’s not true! I can do it way better than you can. What, were you watching me this whole time, pervert?” said Naruto. 

“It seems you’re the one that found me here. First you assault me, now you stalk me? You’re worse than Ino and Sakura. I don’t need any more fans,” Sasuke said, coldly, still not looking at Naruto. 

“Hey asshole, I didn’t assault you, I was pushed. As if I would ever want to kiss a stuck up jerk like you! And I was not stalking you, I happened to be training.” Naruto responded, suddenly angry again about the accidental kiss that had taken place earlier in the day. 

“And I happen to be leaving,” Sasuke said. He rose and began to walk away in the direction that Naruto needed to go to get home. 

“Yeah? Well, I didn’t ask, I’m going home,” Naruto yelled, before following Sasuke away from the river. 

“You’re following me again,” Sasuke said bluntly.

“I am not! I happen to also be going this way. You’re the one that’s walking toward my apartment, where I need to go. If anything, I’d say you’re the one following me!” said Naruto. 

“Idiot, my house is this way too.”

Naruto didn’t say anything in response to that. He realized he did not actually know much about Sasuke, much less where he lived. He, like everyone else in class, knew vaguely about what had happened to the Uchiha clan a few years ago, so he knew that Sasuke’s family wasn’t around anymore. But that was all he knew. He found himself wanting to know more about the guy who always made fun of him. 

Naruto realized he had reached his apartment, while Sasuke kept walking, paying no attention to the blond. Naruto stared as the dark-haired boy walked off, not saying anything. He realized that Sasuke was probably just as alone as he was. But that was no reason for him to be such a jerk, Naruto thought. 

He walked up to his small one-bedroom apartment on the top floor of the old building, taking off his shoes as he entered. Looking out the window, he felt a rush of sadness overcome him. He tried not to be alone in his apartment too often because it solidified any feelings he had of loneliness, doubt, failure. 

He thought about what Sasuke had said about his transformation jutsu, realizing the other boy was right. He still was nowhere near good enough for the graduation exam. He added one more reason to the list of reasons he had motivating him to graduate: prove that asshole he was wrong. 

***

A week later, Naruto was feeling more confident about the jutsu he would have to perform for the exam, but he realized he would need to know more than just that. There was also the written exam, which he was even more worried about. He would have to start paying more attention in class if he had any chance of passing, and there were only two and a half weeks left to really get a hang of everything. 

He decided to do something he’d never done in his life: go to the library. When he arrived, he was overwhelmed, and considered turning around and leaving, but when he saw a flash of pink hair at one of the tables, he mustered up the courage to stay. He knew Sakura was friends with Sasuke, and if she saw him here, she might mention something to the Uchiha and make him realize how serious Naruto is, that he’s not just some dumb kid. 

Rows of tall shelves lined with books stood before him, and he had no clue where to start. He had never taken any sufficient notes during class, so he couldn’t rely on that to study. He made a mental list of what he needed to know. Chakra was the biggest subject they’d talked about, but Naruto also remembered learning about hand seals and genjutsu, as well as basic shinobi conduct. 

Figuring he’d start with chakra since that was what he knew the least about (beyond that it existed), he headed to a bookcase with the letter C and picked up the first book he saw, titled “Chakra basics”. 

“This oughta be good enough,” Naruto said aloud, heading to a table by the window. He sat down and opened the book. He managed to get through the first two paragraphs before his mind started to drift. He felt something stir inside him, something dark and heavy that he didn’t quite understand. His stomach seemed to bubble and he wasn’t sure if he was going to be sick. The last few nights, he has dealt with this feeling. It seemed to happen when he was anxious. It took root deep in his stomach, and the feeling of dread spread throughout his body. 

Naruto tried to ignore the guttural sensation that was beginning to make his head hurt. He stood and brought his book to the counter, asking the librarian if he could check it out. The woman behind the counter stared at him, wide-eyed. He blinked at her, frowning.

“Well, lady? Can I check out the book or not?” he said loudly, drawing attention from the other patrons in the quiet building. 

“Uh.. um… No, I don’t think we can let  _ you  _ take the book out of the building, if you would just leave it right there, I can return it to the shelf for you…” the short woman said, her hands shaking as she reached for the book in Naruto’s hands. 

The bubbling in his stomach seemed to spread all throughout his vessels, and suddenly, Naruto heard a deep voice in his head. 

_ ~You know why she is scared of you, don’t you?~ _

Naruto looked at the librarian, feet planted to the floor. The woman attempted to grab the book from him, but his grip tightened. 

_ ~She thinks you’re a monster.~ _

Naruto blinked slowly. He had overheard a conversation between Iruka sensei and the Hokage one time about the nine-tailed beast inside him. He also knew he wasn’t supposed to know about the monster that had been sealed inside him at birth, but how could he not know. He heard the things people said about him, and he knew the story about the giant chakra monster that had ravaged the village twelve years ago. But beyond that, he didn’t know anything about the beast, or what it meant that it was inside of him. Something in his brain told him that the voice in his head was the fox demon. He waited, but heard nothing else. 

The librarian backed away from Naruto and walked quickly into what appeared to be an office. Naruto didn’t wait for her to come back, he simply walked out of the library with the book still in his hands. He felt shaken, scared even. Knowing what was in him was different than hearing the thoughts of the monster and feeling the effects on his body. 

He felt like he was going to throw up. He stood by the entrance of the library with his hands on his knees, leaning forward and breathing heavily. He felt the repulsive feeling slowly fade away, and he could no longer sense any presence within him.

“What’s the matter, books too scary for you?” he heard a voice say behind him. He looked up and saw Sasuke walking out of the library. He wondered if the boy had been in the library the whole time and had seen Naruto’s interaction with the librarian. He hoped not.

“No! I just wanted to check out a freaking book and they wouldn’t let me!” Naruto said, standing up straight. 

“Idiot, you can’t check out books until you’re a genin, not that you’ll ever become one,” he said. Naruto thought he saw a tiny smirk on the other boy’s mouth, but it disappeared almost immediately. 

“Oh yeah, I’m gonna pass the exam and become a genin, and then I’m gonna become Hokage, believe it!” Naruto fired back. Sasuke simply scoffed and walked away. Naruto sighed and looked down at the book he had technically stolen. No sense giving it back now, he thought as he walked back home, hoping that he would actually be able to bring himself to read it. 

***

Naruto awoke on the morning of the graduation exam and realized he had five minutes to get ready and run to the academy. He pulled on his orange jumpsuit and ran out the door without brushing his teeth or eating breakfast. He bolted through the already busy streets of Konoha, dodging adults who scowled at him as he ran by. The door to the classroom burst open seven minutes after the written portion of the exam had started, revealing a worried but relieved look on Iruka’s face. He quietly handed Naruto his paper and told him to take a seat. 

Naruto walked to the back of the classroom, his classmates looking up at him as he passed by. He noticed that Sasuke’s paper was already flipped over, his pencil sitting neatly by his finished test. Frowning, Naruto took his seat and looked at the test, a combination of multiple-choice and short answer.

The multiple-choice questions always made him nervous, because he tended to second guess himself and overthink the answers, usually giving up after a short period of time so he didn’t have to deal with the mind boggle

He looked down at the questions and realized he actually knew a couple of the answers. He had been cramming all week, reading the stolen library book, and practicing his transformation jutsu. There was no way he was going to fail this test. Knowing he had to get at least a 50 on the written portion and nail the jutsu afterward, he began filling answers, trying to focus as much as possible. 

The sound of papers flipping over and pencils being set down around him made him nervous. He realized he was way behind everyone else in the class. The same feeling of dread began to bubble up in his gut and all the way up to his throat. He began to sweat, feeling itchy all over. 

_ ~Pathetic human. Just give up.~ _

He heard the deep, growling voice in his head for the first time since the incident in the library. He dropped his pencil onto the table, his breathing beginning to quicken. Ignore it, he told himself. All I have to do is ignore it and finish the test, then it will all be fine.

_ ~Foolish child. It will never be fine.~ _

He continued to ignore the voice and stared at his test. He knew he had to get through this, he knew he could get through this. He knew many of the answers, he did manage to kick it in gear these last two weeks and study a decent amount. Finishing this is the first step to becoming Hokage, and I will be Hokage, he told himself.

_ ~Someone like you could never be Hokage.~ _

“No! I will pass this test!” Naruto shouted out loud. Heads turned back to look at him, but Naruto didn’t notice. He kept his eyes glued to the paper. He read the next question, finally getting to the short answer portion. “Name the five chakra natures” read the question. He knew this, they had talked about this in class. He scribbled down “water, earth, fire, wind” and then he stopped. How could he forget the last one, again? He’d forgotten it in class too and Sasuke had to help him. Sasuke. What had he said in class?

“Lightning!” Naruto proclaimed out loud as he suddenly remembered what the Uchiha had said in class several weeks ago, again paying no attention to the stares he received. He continued to push down the feeling in his stomach and head, gaining confidence as he went on and realized he knew more than he thought. I really might be able to get at least a 50 on this, he thought to himself. 

“Alright class, ten more minutes left,” called out Iruka sensei at the front of the class, gaze locked on the blond-haired boy in the back who kept causing disruptions. He really did not want to fail the boy again. He knew Naruto was talented and had potential as well as drive. He just did not learn in the same way that most of the other students did. 

Naruto felt a bead of sweat drip down his forehead, realizing he needed to hurry up. Most, if not all of his classmates had finished the exam already. He finished penciling in his answer to the last question just as he heard Iruka sensei call time. Setting down his pencil, he looked around, suddenly flushing red as he saw a pair of unwavering black eyes locked on his. He then saw Sasuke roll his eyes and turn to the front of the room to listen to Iruka sensei.

“Okay everyone, pass your papers forward, Hokage Sarutobi-sama will be here in an hour to observe all of you perform your physical test. In the meantime, I will work on grading these tests so you can have your score back in time for the physical portion. You all can break for lunch” their teacher explained, collecting the exams. He sat down at his desk and immediately began scoring the exams, hoping to finish them before the Hokage arrived. 

The students slowly filed out of the classroom and into the courtyard where they sparred and ate lunch. Naruto hesitated before following the rest of the kids out. He felt mentally exhausted from the test, but the presence of the fox demon had mostly dissipated, which calmed him a little. He sat down by a tree in the corner near the fence. Like most mornings, he hadn’t had time to pack himself a lunch, so he just leaned against the tall tree in the shade and closed his eyes. 

He could sense that people were looking at him, so he opened his eyes and looked around. He could see fingers pointing at him, and he heard people talking about how he wouldn’t shut up during the test. He told himself he didn’t care, that he was going to perform a perfect transformation jutsu and knock even the Hokage’s socks off.

After an hour had passed, the kids hurried back to the classroom, all hoping to graduate and earn the title of genin. They walked in to find the third Hokage seated at the desk, flanked on either side by two ANBU members. He smiled slightly at the children until his eyes laid on his favorite troublemaker. He hoped Naruto didn’t have anything planned for today. He didn’t want to deal with too much of a mess or calls from any parents.

“Alright everyone, let's not waste any time. You will all step to the front and answer a few questions, then perform the shadow clone jutsu, which will be assessed by myself and the Hokage-sama. We will begin with Aburame Shino,” Iruka began, calling forward the first student. Naruto’s eyes shot open, realizing he hadn’t practiced the shadow clone jutsu nearly as much as the transformation jutsu, which he had expected to perform for the test. He swore he remembered Iruka sensei saying the test would involve the transformation jutsu, and not the shadow clone jutsu. He began to worry that he would fail again. He took a deep breath, trying to suppress the dark energy from bubbling to the surface and ruining things for him.

Naruto recognized the boy, Shino, that went first, but had never actually spoken to him. He knew most of the students in his class, but wasn’t really friends with any of them. The only one he occasionally talked to was Shikamaru, who had pretty much the opposite personality of Naruto but was surprisingly easy to talk to. He watched as Shino moved his hands, making a perfect clone of himself appear next to him. 

Iruka sensei and the Hokage looked impressed. Iruka handed the boy his scored written exam, then congratulated him, handing him his official headband and genin registration number. Naruto could see a hint of a smile in the eyes of the boy’s face that was mostly hidden behind the collar of his jacket. 

“Akimichi Chouji,” called Iruka sensei. Naruto recognized the next boy who stepped forward as Shikamaru’s best friend. Naruto began to zone out as each student went forward to take the test, receiving the valued leaf shinobi headband after passing. He stared out the window, forgetting that he should be rehearsing exactly what hand signs he needed to make for the shadow clone jutsu. 

Though he was worried, he was confident he could pull it off. He’d practiced it several times after studying it in his library book, and found it much easier than the transformation jutsu. Still, he generally wasn’t all that great performing jutsu under pressure, if his last few attempts at this exam said anything. 

“Uchiha Sasuke” was called, and Naruto jerked his head up, realizing he would be next. He watched the Uchiha flawlessly create a clone of himself that bore the same bored expression he wore on his face. When the Hokage congratulated him and Iruka handed him his headband, he simply grunted and returned to his seat. Naruto’s stomach began to stir in anticipation. 

“Uzumaki Naruto,” Iruka said, with a hopeful look on his face. He could tell the blond had at least been trying to pay attention more in class recently, though he wasn’t exactly sure what sparked him to start caring more. He knew it wasn't just the promise of ramen. Naruto walked down to the front of the class and stood in front of the two men.

“Go on, Naruto, let’s see your shadow clone,” said Iruka, a smile sliding across his face. He could see the determination in the young boy’s eyes. Naruto breathed in and performed the hand signs as he had practiced them, and a puff of smoke next to him revealed a full shadow clone. He glanced over to make sure it looked like him. It completely resembled him, aside from a goofy grin on its face. He looked over to Iruka to find a pleased look on his teacher's face. 

“Naruto, you have really improved your technique! Though you do still have a lot more training to do. I am happy to say you passed, even the written portion of the exam! Congratulations!” Iruka exclaimed, handing Naruto his exam from earlier in the day. Naruto looked down to see a big 62 circled at the top, 12 points higher than the minimum score to pass. 

“Do I get my headband now? Are we going to ramen after this? You promised me as much ramen as I could eat, and extra pork too!” Naruto beamed, hardly able to contain his excitement. 

“Of course, Naruto. I have a few things to finish up here this afternoon, how about we meet at Ichiraku in an hour?” Iruka said, handing Naruto his headband and paperwork. Naruto immediately ditched the goggles he wore on his forehead in favor of the headband. Once secure, he tapped it twice with his knuckle to make sure it was the real deal.

“OK Iruka sensei, you better not be late!” Naruto said, already heading out the door without receiving permission from his teacher or the Hokage. Iruka looked wearily over to Sarutobi, who smiled back at him.   
“He sure is a lot,” said Sarutobi. “But he has his mother’s determination, that’s for sure. He did much better than I expected, the last time I saw him was an utter disaster,” he said, recalling Naruto’s sexy jutsu that he had so unfortunately shared with his elders. 

“Yes, he really is growing up, and so is his appetite!” Iruka laughed, wondering just how much he would spend on ramen for the boy tonight. He realized he had one more announcement for the class. He would make sure to fill in Naruto over dinner since he had rushed out before anyone could say anything.

“Settle down everyone, I know this is very exciting, and I am so pleased with all of the progress you have made in the last few months. You have officially graduated from the academy and you are fully fledged shinobi. This means you are adults in the eyes of Konoha laws, and you will be expected to act like adults. Since you are all genin now, you will be assigned to teams of three, with one jounin captain. Team assignments will be posted tomorrow morning, and you will be expected to meet your captain at the specified location at ten sharp, so make sure you’re not late. Your captains will give you a test to decide if you are worthy of being on their team, so act wisely and work together. Remember, you can stop by anytime to come say hi to your old sensei!” he reminded them before dismissing the class. 


	2. Comfort Crowd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, wow, two chapters in two days! Now that my classes are over for the semester, I'll have quite a bit of time to work on this before my summer classes start up in June. I hope you like it :) (Chapter title is Comfort Crowd by Conan Gray, doesn't fit with the entire chapter but I liked how it fit in at the end)

Naruto woke up early after a night of little sleep and ran to the academy, knowing the lists of team assignments would be posted by now. He was curious to see who he would be working with from his class. Even though he wanted to be assigned to a team with Shikamaru, he knew that was impossible since Shikamaru would be on a team with Ino and Chouji, the only predetermined team. 

He burst through the front doors and skidded down the hallway to find the paper taped to the door of Iruka sensei’s classroom. He scanned the list until he found his name.

Team 7:   
Jounin Captain: Hatake Kakashi  
Haruno Sakura  
Uchiha Sasuke  
Uzumaki Naruto

He blinked and stared at the paper for a moment, realizing he would have to spend even more time with the arrogant jerk that he had come to hate in the academy. He had hoped to get away from the people that made fun of him so he could focus on training and missions and improving his skills. Sighing, he continued to read, finding that he had an hour to make his way across town to a bridge where the team would meet their jounin captain, Hatake Kakashi. 

Naruto had never heard that name before, but he was excited to get started. Iruka sensei had told him last night to be prepared for a test to see if the captain even wanted to take on the three of them as students. He had no clue what the test would entail, but after finally passing the graduation exam, he felt like he could pass any test no problem. 

His shoes, slightly damp after running through the wet grass, squeaked quietly on the tile as he walked out of the building. Wanting to start a new not-late chapter in his life, he headed straight to the bridge so that he could be early. His headband was tied proudly around his forehead, and he walked slowly, knowing he had time to spare and still arrive at the bridge before 10.

He was in a better mood than usual, feeling ready to meet his captain and hopefully impress the man. After dinner at Ichiraku last night, he had spent several hours practicing his shadow clone jutsu in the woods. He had gotten quite good at it, and could create more than just one at a time. He figured the technique could be quite useful in whatever test was planned for them today. 

When he arrived at the bridge, he saw Sakura’s long pink hair pulled back away from her face by her headband. The girl stood there, looking around but not noticing Naruto yet. Naruto walked up behind her, careful not to let her notice his presence. What’s the fun in being on a team together if he can’t mess with her, he thought.

“HEY SAKURA!” he shouted only a few inches from her ear. She whipped around, and a small scream escaped her mouth as she threw a shuriken at him. He ducked in time to see a few strands of blond hair fall in front of him, cut clean off by the weapon which lodged itself in a tree behind him. 

“You idiot! What are you doing sneaking up on me, I could have killed you,” Sakura yelled, before winding up her fist and thrusting forward to land a blow square on Naruto’s cheek, knocking him back several feet. He stumbled back and landed onto someone behind him. He turned and realized who he was now laying on. 

“Get off of me,” Sasuke said in a low voice, shoving Naruto forward onto the ground as the black haired boy stood up and brushed the dirt off of his pants. He leaned against the railing of the bridge, ignoring Naruto’s grumbling complaints. 

Naruto stood up and walked to the other side of the bridge, hopping up to sit on the railing. He stared at Sasuke, wondering how he would ever be able to work with someone who clearly had it out for him. His eyes drifted over to Sakura, who was looking dreamily at Sasuke. Naruto would never understand why she liked him so much. He’d never said more than a few words to her. In fact, he’d had more conversations with Naruto than with Sakura, not that they were friendly conversations. 

“So… have you guys met our captain yet? Where is he, anyway? Weren’t we supposed to meet here at 10? That was fifteen minutes ago, he’s late on his very first day meeting us, that’s not fair!” Naruto rambled.

“Yeah you’re right, he should have been here by now. I’m sure he’ll show up soon though,” Sakura said, looking around to see if she could spot anyone who could be their new team captain. She had no idea what the man would look like, but she was growing a little impatient. She didn’t like having to wait very long for people who were late. She wondered if maybe this was part of the test, to see if they really wanted this bad enough to wait for their captain to show up. 

“I’m surprised you weren’t late, idiot,” Naruto heard Sasuke say to him. He looked over to the Uchiha who was gazing off in the opposite direction. As always, he looked like he didn’t even care to be there. Naruto knew better than that though. He knew no one graduated at the top of their class without caring some. He figured that was the reason they were on a team together. Sasuke had to be the smartest person in their class, and Naruto figured he’d probably scored the lowest. They likely put the best and the worst on a team together to help the worse one improve. Naruto was determined to show that he wasn’t worse than Sasuke though.

Naruto wasn’t entirely sure where Sakura fit between the two boys. He knew she was very smart, but had never really seen her do any ninjutsu. He supposed he would find out today, if their captain ever showed up. The three of them had been standing on the bridge, mostly in silence, for nearly half an hour. Naruto was starting to get jittery with anticipation. He wasn’t a fan of how quiet it was.

“So…” he said, jumping down from the railing of the bridge. “What do you think this Kakashi guy is gonna be like?”

“I’m not sure, I hope he’s not always late like this. I was thinking maybe it was part of the test that Iruka sensei mentioned, but it seems like it’s been a little too long for that,” Sakura responded. “What about you, Sasuke, what do you think?”

“Hn,” the boy grunted, not even looking at the girl.

“Is that all you know how to say? Man, how far up your ass is that stick?” Naruto fired back immediately, unsure of what Sakura did to deserve Sasuke’s treatment.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Sasuke scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, actually, I would like to know! What’s your problem, why do you think you’re so much better than everyone else?” Naruto asked, genuinely curious as to what was going on inside Sasuke’s mind. 

Sasuke’s head snapped toward Naruto, glaring at him. “I don’t owe an idiot like you any explanation.”

“Yeesh, just trying to lighten the mood with some conversation, chill,” Naruto said, putting his hands up in front of him, feigning innocence. “Besides, you seem like too much of a coward to face your own emotions anyway,” he said, trying to get in the last jab. Right as he said that, Sasuke lunged forward, kunai in hand, at Naruto with a deadly look in his eye. A tall figure dropped down, landing gracefully between the two boys and holding them away from each other. 

“Alright, that’s enough,” Kakashi said as the boys stepped back, both crossing their arms over their chest. 

“You must be Kakashi sensei! Why are you so late, it's been almost an hour. We’ve just been waiting for you like Iruka sensei told us to,” Sakura said, looking up at the man with spiky silver hair and a mask covering his mouth and nose. She noted that his headband was pulled down over one of his eyes. Despite only being able to see a small sliver of his face, she thought the man looked bored and apathetic, as if showing up to meet the three new genin was a waste of his time. 

“Ah, yes. Well, you see, I was on my way here when... an old lady stopped me and asked me to help her retrieve her cat from a tree, so I had to help take care of that before I could come here,” Kakashi said, still standing between Naruto and Sasuke who continued to glare at each other. Sakura could tell the man was lying, but didn’t want to make him angry with her as well on their first day. She wanted to prove to him that she was worthy of being his student.

“Well, now that we’re all here, why don’t you introduce yourselves,” Kakashi said, stepping back so he could see all of the students. He recognized the two boys, but not the pink-haired girl. 

“I’m Naruto Uzumaki, I like ramen and I’m going to be Hokage one day!” Naruto exclaimed, stepping forward with a big smile on his face. He wasn’t sure what else there was to say about himself, so he stopped at that. He looked over to Sakura, who spoke next. 

“My name is Sakura Haruno. I like reading and learning about anatomy. I hate loud and obnoxious people,” she said, shooting a look in Naruto’s direction. “And I hope to one day be the best medical ninja ever!” she said, looking proudly over to Sasuke, who said nothing in return. 

“Alright, and you?” Kakashi asked Sasuke. 

“My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don’t particularly like anything, but I have many dislikes. My goal, no, my ambition, is to restore my clan and kill a certain person,” he said, his brow furrowing but otherwise showing no more emotion than usual. Naruto looked over at him, hoping that he wasn’t the target of Sasuke’s deadly goal. He certainly didn’t like Naruto, but surely he wouldn’t want to kill him. Naruto remembered what had happened to the Uchiha clan, and wondered if maybe he intended to kill the person who had murdered his entire family. The blond boy made a mental note to try to find out more about what happened later. He was becoming more and more curious about Sasuke’s life. 

“Okay… why don’t we head over to the third training ground and get started,” Kakashi said, already beginning to walk off, expecting the three children to follow him.

“Why didn’t we just meet at the training grounds? What was the point in meeting here if we were just going to have to walk over to the training grounds anyway?” Naruto complained, but Kakashi just ignored him and kept walking. Naruto reluctantly followed after the others until they arrived at an opening among the trees and shrubbery. He took note of three adjacent stumps sticking up from the ground, wondering what they were for. 

“I have two bells here. In order to succeed, you each need to take a bell from me. You have one hour. Begin,” Kakashi said, strapping the two bells to his belt and letting them dangle in the open. He pulled out a book and began to read in front of the three shocked faces staring up at him. 

“That’s it? We just need to get a bell? This should be easy!” Naruto said, confident he could get one within a few minutes. 

“Wait, but Kakashi sensei, there’s three of us and only two bells. That means one of us won’t get a bell…” Sakura said with a worried look on her face. 

“That’s correct.”

Before Kakashi could finish speaking, a fist flew at his face. The captain stepped swiftly to the side, grabbing Naruto’s wrist and twisting it behind his back. The other two children blinked at him, having barely seen what happened. 

“Naruto, obvious head-on attacks like that won’t work on me. You’re going to have to try a little harder than that,” Kakashi said, letting go of the blond and stepping back, returning immediately to his book. The three genin spread out, forming a broad triangle around him. Naruto knew he should probably try to work with the other two, but he didn’t want to be the only one who didn’t get a bell. He clasped his hands together and six shadow clones appeared around him. The clones charged at Kakashi while the real Naruto snuck up behind him, suddenly grabbing onto his sensei’s back. 

He reached for a bell, but in a puff of smoke, Kakashi was suddenly nowhere to be seen, replaced with a log. Naruto released his clones and looked around, trying to find the older man. A rustle in the bushes to his left caused him to turn to see the sensei standing there, book in hand and bells still tied to his waist. 

“I’m impressed you can create so many shadow clones, most people have trouble sustaining even one for a short period of time. However, you should make sure you always watch your back,” he said, wryly. Before Naruto could look behind him, he heard the words “One thousand years of death!” and felt an unpleasant poke on his rear end, sending him shooting toward the sky. He landed face-first on the ground, and he turned over to sit on his now sore butt. He heard snickering coming from Sakura, and he thought he saw a faint smile on Sasuke’s face. 

“Get up, idiot,” he heard Sasuke say, and he looked up to see the boy now in front of him, holding out his hand to help Naruto up off the ground. Naruto smiled and took the pale but strong hand, rising to his feet. 

“Hey, you know I don’t think getting the bells is gonna be as easy as we thought it would be,” Naruto explained to Sasuke, who stood beside him, scanning the area in search of Kakashi who had disappeared again. 

“No, I think you’re right. I can sense that he’s over there in that tree at 11:00. You try to distract him again and I’ll attack him when he has his guard down. Don’t let him fool you again, dumbass,” Sasuke instructed, pointing to a tree in the distance. Naruto nodded, charging toward the spot where Sasuke had directed him. He caught a glimpse of something shiny on the ground and realized it was a bell that Kakashi must have dropped. He stopped to pick it up and was suddenly suspended in the air, hanging by his feet. Stupid, stupid, stupid, he thought, how could he have fallen for something that was so obviously a trap. He cursed, realizing they had already wasted a lot of time. Kakashi appeared in front of him, looking disappointed. 

“I must say, Naruto, I knew you weren’t the brightest, but I really thought you were better than this. Ninja don’t fall for such obvious deceptions,” the man explained. Meanwhile, Sasuke realized that this was his chance to attack while Kakashi had his back turned, though that was not exactly what he had meant when telling Naruto to create a distraction. He threw several shuriken and a kunai at the man’s back and watched in surprise as they struck. He had assumed the man would dodge. 

Sasuke heard Sakura scream that he went too far, that they weren’t trying to kill their sensei, just get a bell. But suddenly Kakashi’s body was replaced with a log where his weapons were lodged, another substitution jutsu. He looked around, trying to find where the real man was, but could not sense him. Like Naruto, he realized they were running out of time. 

Sakura ran toward Sasuke, hoping to coordinate some sort of plan, but as soon as her feet took off, she felt a tap on her shoulder and heard the words “Looking for me?” She startled and fell backwards. 

“K-Kakashi sensei,” she said, facing the man. She suddenly started to feel woozy and felt the world spin around her. Sakura thought she heard the two other boys yelling, and she panicked, eyes darting to find her teammates. She spotted Naruto hanging from a tree, rope around his ankles and bloody kunai piercing his chest. She screamed loudly, then glanced over to see Sasuke struggling to get to his feet, a large gash over his stomach that appeared to be bleeding out. The girl stood to help her teammates, but quickly fell back to the ground, fainting at the sight. 

When she awoke from the genjutsu, Kakashi was gone and so were Naruto and Sasuke. She rose and walked back to the clearing where the test had begun to find Sasuke standing in front of their team captain. The boy moved his hands quickly and breathed out a large cloud of fire that engulfed the area and their sensei. When the flames finally dissipated, he looked around, not seeing Kakashi anywhere. Suddenly, he felt a hand grab his ankle, pulling him rapidly into the earth, trapping him and preventing him from using his arms. 

Kakashi appeared before him, towering over the head of black hair that peaked out from the ground. After a moment, the sensei reached down a hand, pulling the boy up and freeing him from the dirt. “Fuck!” Sasuke cursed, knowing he should have been more aware of his surroundings and sensed the man’s chakra beneath him. They had run out of time. None of them had gotten a single bell. He glanced to his right to see Naruto hanging from a different tree, obviously caught in yet another trap.

“Well, you all failed,” Kakashi said, walking over to where Naruto was hanging, a rope binding his wrists above his head causing his feet to dangle just a few inches from the ground. The two other students stood next to him, looking back at their teacher. 

“It wasn’t fair, Kakashi sensei, there was no way any of us could’ve gotten a bell! You’re way too fast. How are we supposed to learn if you fail us and send us back to the academy?” Naruto whined.

“Actually, I was thinking… I’ve decided not to send you all back to the academy,” Kakashi started, observing the relieved looks that washed over the three kids' faces. “I’ve decided that none of you will ever be good enough to be real ninja, so you will be dropped from the program.” 

“What?! That’s not fair!” the three said in unison, but paused their complaining after Kakashi held out a finger to quiet them. “Unless… you pass my next test. I will give you one more chance to pass, but you will need to do a lot better than the first time around. You can’t just attack me on your own. There is a reason you have been assigned to work in teams. First, we will break for lunch, then you will be given one more opportunity to retrieve the bells. But I won’t go easy on you this time,” he said, handing Sasuke and Sakura each a container with rice, shrimp, and hard boiled eggs. 

“Where’s my lunch?” Naruto whined, flailing his legs. 

“Anyone who could fall for the same obvious trap twice does not deserve lunch. The two of you are not to share any food with him. If you fail to follow my instructions now or for the rest of the day, you will be barred from ever becoming a real shinobi. Do you understand?” Kakashi said, receiving aggressive nods from all three students. 

“Very well, I am going to go eat my lunch, and we will regroup in half an hour,” Kakashi said, walking off. The three genin looked at each other, worried. Naruto realized that Kakashi was right. His strategy of attacking head-on clearly wasn’t going to work. He thought about what the teacher had said, about why they were assigned to teams. 

“Guys, I think we’re gonna need to work together on this if we want to actually win,” Naruto admitted to the other two, giving up on trying to break free of the ropes.

“Shut up Naruto, what would you know, you’re the one hanging from a tree. You could’ve ruined it for all of us!” Sakura yelled at him, furious at the idea of never being able to become a ninja. She had no clue how they were going to get the bells from Kakashi if they had already failed so much in their first attempt. 

“No. He’s right. You heard what Kakashi sensei said. We need to make a plan and work as a team. We can’t do that if you two keep bickering,” Sasuke said, shooting a dirty look at the other two. “Let’s eat, then discuss strategy.”

Naruto’s stomach gurgled loud enough for the other two to hear. They both looked at him inquisitively. “I’m fine, you heard what Kakashi sensei said, I can’t have lunch or we’ll all fail. There is no way I am not becoming a ninja, I have to!” Naruto said, knowing what his teammates were thinking. 

“No, you’re not fine. If you’re hungry, you’re just going to get in the way. He’s gone right now anyway, you need to eat if we are going to have any chance at this,” Sasuke said, holding out his food to Naruto. Sakura sighed, following suit. She knew Sasuke was right, but was terrified of getting caught by Kakashi and being kicked out of the program. 

“Heh, thanks guys, but my hands are kinda tied right now…” Naruto laughed nervously. He looked at Sakura, expectantly. She glared back at him.

“Absolutely not, no way am I feeding you Naruto, that’s gross,” she said. 

“Get out of the way, I don’t have time for this. We need to eat quickly so we can discuss what we’ll do next,” Sasuke said, walking closer to Naruto and using his chopsticks to bring a piece of shrimp up to the boy’s mouth. Naruto frowned at the idea of the Uchiha feeding him, but he knew he was right, they didn’t have much time before Kakashi got back. He took a bite, then saw a flash of lightning out of the corner of his eye. Looking up past Sasuke, he saw lightning sparking from the tips of Kakashi’s fingers in front of them, the sky darkening around him as if a storm was suddenly about to break the sky open. 

“What did I tell you?” he said, his voice harsh and louder than usual. The air around him started to swirl, and the lighting in his hand connected to a streak of light leading up to the sky for a brief second, lighting up the field around them before casting the group in darkness under the clouds. The man’s silver hair waved in the wind. “Care to explain yourselves?”

“We… we just wanted to make sure Naruto wasn’t hungry so that we could all work together after lunch…” Sakura said, trembling. 

“Yeah, we were trying to work as a team since there’s no way we could do it alone. You’re the one that mentioned the fact that we were assigned to teams in the first place, what did you expect!” Naruto shouted back, unwilling to back down when his teammates had so bravely stood up for him and shared their food. 

“Well then… You passed.”

“What?” Naruto stared blankly back at the teacher. 

“You passed,” Kakashi said, the lightning disappearing from his fingertips and the clouds above him already beginning to thin out to let the sunlight beam down into the clearing. “You are the first group that has ever passed this test, the first ones to realize how important teamwork is. In the world of shinobi, those who break the rules are scum, but those who leave behind a teammate are worse than scum. I’m glad to see that you did not leave Naruto behind, despite my orders. So, I will take you on as my students. Your first real mission will be tomorrow. Meet me by the bridge at 8 sharp. I’ll see you all tomorrow,” he finished, walking away from the three. 

“Hey, you’re not gonna be late again, are you?” Naruto yelled after the man, but did not receive a response. He sighed, grateful that they had passed. He didn’t know what he would have done if he had to go back to the academy, or worse, if he was banned from ever becoming a shinobi.

“Well, that was quite something,” Sakura said, letting out a deep breath. 

“Hn,” Sasuke replied. He didn’t want to admit how worried he was for a second about his future. Not that anything could prevent him from going after his goal. 

“Well, I guess I’ll see you guys tomorrow, I gotta go see what happened with Ino, I heard only nine out of the 21 graduating students are actually going to be put on a team of genin, I gotta see if she made it!” Sakura said before running off toward the entrance of the training grounds, leaving the two boys alone. 

“Hey, uh, would you help me down from here?” Naruto asked, growing red in the face from embarrassment since he was still tied up, hanging from the tree. Sasuke rolled his eyes and grabbed Naruto’s wrists, sliding a kunai beneath the ropes and cutting them away from the other boy’s hands. Naruto dropped to the ground next to Sasuke, rubbing the slight burn on his wrists. 

“Thanks for sharing your food with me back there,” Naruto said, following Sasuke down the path Sakura had taken to exit the training grounds, unsure of what he should do now. It was still midday, but he was already tired, feeling ready for a nap. 

“Yeah, whatever, it was no big deal. I just couldn’t let you screw things up for me,” Sasuke replied. 

“Hey, I wasn’t going to screw up anything for you! I wanted it just as badly as you did,” Naruto shot back. 

“You’re always a screwup, I can’t believe I have to be on a team with you,” Sasuke said.

“What’s your problem with me? What did I do to you to make you hate me, huh?” Naruto said, stopping in front of Sasuke’s path and sticking a finger in the other boy’s face. Sasuke grabbed Naruto’s wrist, twisting backwards until the blond felt a sharp pain in his elbow.   
“What’s my problem with you? You’re loud and obnoxious and stupid. Did you have to bribe Iruka sensei to pass the graduation exam?” Sasuke retorted, still holding Naruto’s arm in an uncomfortable position. Naruto twisted his body, kicking Sasuke’s knee so that they both fell onto the ground. Naruto pinned Sasuke underneath him so that he couldn’t move his arms.

“I studied for weeks and passed the test all on my own. And what about you, you’re so damn arrogant you think everyone is beneath you. Well news flash, we’re on the same level now!” Naruto proclaimed. Sasuke heaved the boy off of him, flipping the two over so that he was now pinning Naruto down. 

“Ha, what a joke! You’ll never be on the same level as me,” Sasuke said, looking down at the boy underneath him. He swung his fist, but Naruto rolled out of the way before it could make contact with his face. The two boys stood up, squaring up to fight, both fuming. Naruto charged, his fist flying toward the Uchiha’s face. Sasuke ducked at the last minute and kicked his leg into Naruto’s chest, sending him stumbling backwards. 

“What happened to teamwork, asshole!” Naruto said, creating four shadow clones that ran to tackle his opponent on all sides. Sasuke spun and blew fire at each of them, making the clones disappear in small puffs of smoke. The real Naruto stood unscathed in front of him. The two fought, both landing hit after hit on the other until they were battered and bruised. They finally collapsed next to each other on the grass, breathing heavily. Naruto looked over at Sasuke to see the boy sporting a bloody lip. His clothes were torn, and he had scratches up and down his arms and legs. One cut on his arm looked much worse than the others. Naruto could tell he would wake up with his own black eye in the morning, and pieces of his orange jumpsuit were burnt away from Sasuke’s fireball jutsu. 

The two boys laid on the ground for several minutes, catching their breath. The sun was low in the sky, casting long shadows over them from the trees. They were both hungry, having only eaten part of the small lunch earlier in the day. 

“Hey, your arm doesn’t look too good. Why don’t you come over and I’ll fix it up and we can have some ramen for dinner?” Naruto said, standing up and reaching a hand out to help the other boy up. 

Sasuke hesitated. “Fine,” he said. He wasn’t really sure why he was agreeing to go over to Naruto’s apartment. He was still annoyed with the blond, but he was no longer seething with anger after their fight. Seeing the way that Naruto fought that evening, Sasuke realized he really had improved a lot from the last time he saw him spar in academy. He must be practicing on his own time, maybe I should ask him about his training schedule, Sasuke thought to himself. He grabbed Naruto’s hand and heaved himself up, walking with the boy out of the training ground hours after their teammate and captain had left. 

The two boys walked quietly back to Naruto’s apartment, occasionally bumping shoulders as they went. Naruto felt happy for once, even though he had literally just gotten out of a fight and was covered in bruises from head to toe. He thought that maybe Sasuke wasn’t so bad afterall. At the very least, they would have to get along if they were going to work on a team together, but he realized that might not be so difficult after all. 

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Naruto said, swinging open the door to his tiny apartment. They walked in and both took off their shoes. Sasuke took a seat at the small kitchen table while Naruto hurried into the bathroom to grab some bandages and alcohol wipes. He came back to see Sasuke looking around curiously at the boy’s home. Sasuke had never really thought about where Naruto lived. 

“Do you live here… alone?” Sasuke asked. Any semblance of annoyance or boredom that was usually heavy in his voice was absent. 

“Yeah, it’s not too bad. I can make all the ramen I want and there’s no one here to bother me, except sometimes when Iruka sensei comes over and makes me clean up…” he drifted off, not finishing his thought. Sasuke looked at him. He had never realized that Naruto didn’t have parents, or at least didn’t live with them. He decided not to probe more, knowing that if he were asked the same question, he would get defensive and angry. 

“Alright, come here,” Naruto said, grabbing hold of Sasuke’s arm and wiping it with alcohol to clean off all the dirt. Sasuke winced and tried to pull his arm back, but Naruto’s grip held firm. He seemed content that the cut wasn’t deep enough to warrant going to the hospital, so he began wrapping a bandage around the boy’s upper arm, securing it at the top and pulling his sleeve back down to cover most of it. 

“There you go, all better! Do you want chicken or beef instant ramen?” Naruto asked, pleased with his work. He’d had to bandage his own wounds plenty of times after a long day of training or simply from just being too clumsy. 

“Thanks, dobe. Whatever you’re having is fine. I’m gonna go clean up in the bathroom.” Sasuke rose, not really wanting ramen but knowing he was too hungry to deny any food. He had walked by the bathroom on the way into the apartment, so he already knew where it was, not that it would be hard to find in such a small space. He walked out of the kitchen, taking a glance into Naruto’s bedroom before turning into the bathroom. There were a few articles of clothing strewn on the floor, but for the most part it actually seemed clean. He wouldn’t have expected that from the hyperactive boy who lived there. 

Sasuke closed the bathroom door and turned on the sink, splashing cold water in his face. He stared at his reflection in the mirror, noticing the gash on his lip that was caused by a kunai Naruto had pulled out during their fight. It wasn’t that bad. Neither of them had been trying to seriously injure the other, though they certainly weren’t going easy on each other either. Sasuke could remember how furious he had been with Naruto for no reason. Now he was standing here in the boy’s apartment while Naruto made him dinner. 

He chuckled to himself at how strange the day had been, then washed his hands and returned to the kitchen to find a cup of chicken flavored instant ramen on the table in front of the empty chair. Naruto had already eaten half of his serving, not even looking up when Sasuke sat down next to him. Picking up his chopsticks, Sasuke slowly ate his first bite, then realized just how hungry he was and scarfed down the rest of the noodles. The two finished at the same time, setting down their chopsticks in unison. 

Sasuke glanced over at the clock on the wall and realized that it was getting late. He knew they had to be up relatively early for their mission tomorrow, whatever it was. Even though he had no problem with getting up early, he much preferred to sleep in given the chance. He thought about walking back to his empty house in the compound where he slept alone every night, shivering unconsciously.

“Hey, you can stay over if you want since it's getting kinda late,” Naruto said, as if reading his mind. Sasuke hesitated, not wanting to overstay his welcome. Even though he was already feeling more comfortable around Naruto than he had even that morning, he still felt weird about staying. 

“Don’t worry, it’s no big deal, I’ve got an extra pillow and blanket.” Naruto playfully punched Sasuke on the shoulder, then stood up and walked to his bedroom. He pulled an extra blanket out from his bed and laid it on the floor. He then pulled one of the two pillows he kept on his bed and tossed it on top of the blanket before climbing into his own bed without bothering to take off any of his clothes. 

Sasuke stood in the doorway for a moment, watching the blond’s actions. He then walked forward and slowly laid down on the makeshift sleeping space Naruto had set up for him. Before he could even settle in, he heard snores coming from behind him on the bed. He rolled his eyes, then shut them to try to fall asleep. Sasuke wasn’t sure how he ended up here, but he wasn’t entirely unhappy with the situation. He fell asleep with a small smile on his face.


	3. Yung and Dum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, this chapter is coming a bit later than expected cause there is A Lot going on in my life right now (as I'm sure there is with everyone's lives). I hope you enjoy more Naruto and Sasuke interactions. I really enjoyed writing this one. (Chapter title is Yung and Dum by Issues)

_Sasuke headed back into town after a late evening of training in the woods. Itachi had promised to help him train, but had never shown up, so Sasuke spent the evening practicing his aim on his own. He had gotten pretty good, and was excited to show his big brother the next day, hopefully before he left for whatever his big mission was. He was so proud of his brother for making ANBU._

_As he walked back through the gates marked with the Uchiha fan, Sasuke realized how eerily quiet it was. Usually one of his aunts or uncles was sitting outside, folding laundry or just enjoying the evening air, but tonight, there wasn’t a sound. He walked further down the street, only to see what looked like a body on the ground._

_Sasuke rushed toward the figure, wondering if something bad had happened to one of his family members. He stopped as he realized that one of his aunts was laying there, blood pouring from her chest onto the ground by her front door. Wide-eyed, he took a step back, stumbling and almost falling. His mind spiraled, and he ran to his own home, hoping to find his parents and brother safe, but as he ran, he saw more doors open and more lifeless bodies inside._

_His heart beat loud as his feet kicked up dirt on the ground, his legs carrying him as fast as they could toward his house. Looking up before entering the door, he thought he saw a figure near one of the light posts, but it was gone before he could get a good look. He paused. Time seemed to stand still. The raven haired boy reached for the door, his entire arm shaking. His outstretched hand grabbed onto the handle, and swung the door to the side, revealing the bodies of his parents._

_“M-Mother? Father?” the boy quavered, stepping forward to see the cold eyes of his parents. He fell to his knees, his breath caught in his throat. At that moment, he felt like he was going to die. Tears welled up in his eyes and cascaded down his pale cheeks, falling to the floor next to his mother’s lifeless body. His vision blurred and his mind raced. He could not conjure up a single coherent thought. Only when he heard a noise behind him did he look up, his trance broken. His brother’s burning red eyes bore into his own, and he screamed._

Sasuke sat upright, his heart racing from the dream that haunted him nearly every night. He could not escape his brother’s sharingan eyes. Taking a deep breath to try to calm his nerves, he looked around and realized he was not in his own house. Confused for a second, he sat still in bed, taking in his surroundings before remembering that he had stayed the night at Naruto’s apartment last night. Why had he done that? He didn’t even know Naruto that well, and he certainly didn’t like him that much.

He glanced to his left to find the blond-haired boy still asleep in his bed, snoring softly. The boy’s hand dangled off the side of the bed a few inches away from Sasuke’s leg, and one of his feet stuck out of the covers. Sasuke could see the outline of a black eye on naruto’s cheek and brow bone, but realized it was not nearly as dark or bruised as it should have been. In fact, none of the injuries that Sasuke had given Naruto last night appeared to be as bad as they should be.

Sasuke looked down at his own bandaged arm, still very much injured as it had been when he went to sleep last night. His legs were still littered with scrapes and bruises. Maybe the other kid just had a freaky immune system and healed fast or something, Sasuke thought. He figured he’d ask later.

Glancing over at the clock on Naruto’s bedside table, Sasuke realized it was already 7:45, and Kakashi had said to meet at 8 for their mission today. He cursed under his breath, realizing they needed to hurry up and leave if they wanted to make it on time to their first real mission.

“Naruto, wake up,” Sasuke said coldly, but he didn’t receive a response. In fact, it seemed like the blond began to snore even louder. Sasuke grabbed Naruto’s dangling hand and held it over the boy’s face, dropping it so that it slapped down on his cheek. Naruto startled awake, rubbing his cheek with one hand and his eyes with the other.

“Ow, what the hell was that for, asshole?” Naruto said, swinging his legs around to the side of the bed and slouching over to avoid the sun coming in through the window.

“We’re late, we need to go meet with the rest of the team for our mission today.” Sasuke said before walking out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. He closed the door and looked at himself in the mirror. His usually perfectly styled hair was a mess. He knew he wouldn't have that much time to fix it, so he fussed with it for just a few moments to try to tame it. His clothes were still dirty and torn from yesterday, but he didn’t have anything to change into, so he settled for splashing his face with water and calling it good enough. Usually he took more pride in his appearance, but he also took pride in being on time as much as possible, and he certainly wouldn’t have time to go home before meeting with Sakura and Kakashi, so he would have to deal with his disheveled look for the day.

He left the bathroom to find Naruto scrambling to pull on his shoes and pack all of his weapons up into his belt and thigh holster. Sasuke neatly slipped his shoes on and secured his own weapons holster before opening the front door and walking out into the hallway, knowing the blond would follow close behind.

Sasuke headed down the stairs to exit the apartment building when he heard the slam of Naruto’s front door and the jangling of keys jamming into the lock. He continued to walk, and soon the blond was flying down the stairs after him, his clothes looking like an even bigger mess than Sasuke’s, but all his injuries looking surprisingly mild.

***

The two boys ran to the bridge, arriving several minutes late but only finding Sakura and not their teacher. Naruto skidded to a halt in front of the girl, smiling at her with big eyes. Sasuke stood a few feet behind the blond boy, trying to pretend like he wasn’t a little winded from running across town to try to make it on time. Sakura scanned the two, noticing the scrapes and bruises that littered both of their bodies. She was pretty sure that they hadn’t been there yesterday, she would have noticed a giant bandage on Sasuke’s upper arm.

“Hey Sakura! Is Kakashi sensei not here yet?” Naruto asked, voice full of enthusiasm as if he hadn’t been dead asleep not even 20 minutes ago.

“No, I haven’t seen him yet. What’s wrong with you two, what happened? You’re both all beat up, did you get in a fight on the way here?” Sakura questioned, stepping back after getting a whiff of Naruto’s morning breath.

“Oh this! This is nothing, we just had a bit of a sparring match last night. You shoulda seen it, I totally kicked Sasuke’s ass!” Naruto rambled, turning to stick his tongue out at the dark haired boy behind him. Sasuke rolled his eyes in response but didn’t bother to correct Naruto that he did not, in fact, win. Sakura on the other hand looked very concerned, noticing that Sasuke looked much worse off than Naruto even though she would never in a million years believe that Naruto could beat Sasuke in anything other than maybe a ramen eating contest.

“Oh my god, Sasuke, are you okay? Let me look at your arm, I would hate for it to get infected! My mom has been teaching me some basic medicine, I bet I can fix you right up,” she said, reaching for Sasuke’s bandaged arm.

“He’s fine, I patched him up last night, I know what I’m doing… kinda…” Naruto said, fairly confident in his own abilities after all the times he’d had to clean himself up after the brutal training sessions he’d been putting himself through in the last month and a half. Although, he also did know that his body healed a lot faster than most other people’s. He suspected it had something to do with the nine tails inside him, but he didn’t know too much about it since no one had ever bothered talking to him about it. The only thing he really did know was that the demon was sealed inside him, and he wasn’t even supposed to know that, he had just overheard it one day.

Naruto wanted to do more digging, find out more about what it meant to have the nine tails inside him. Sometimes he could feel its presence in him. Usually it only happened when he was nervous, but he really had no way of controlling it. He thought maybe there might be information in the library, but if everyone refused to talk to him about it, how likely was it that they would leave information about it in the open for him to find? It’s worth a shot, he thought, remembering that he should be able to check out books since he became a genin.

“Naruto! Did you even hear what I said? Sakura said, slapping him on the arm enough to send him stumbling back a few steps. He shook his head and looked back at his two teammates, realizing he’d zoned out.

“Uh, no. What were we talking about?” Naruto blushed, scratching the back of his head reflexively. Sakura sighed loudly.

“I was saying,” she began, “that Kakashi sensei is late again. Yesterday I thought maybe it was part of our test, but it seems like he just has a habit of being late. If he keeps this up, I think we should ask him about it, or do something at least. I’m tired of waiting an hour for him to show up! Even you two were late today. I would expect that from you, Naruto, but not you Sasuke. Where do you think he could be? Yesterday he said he was helping an old lady. I wonder what his excuse will be today? I bet we could all just start showing up half an hour later than he tells us and still be here well before he gets here.” Sakura rambled, clearly annoyed with their tardy teacher.

Naruto didn’t care that much. He was late all the time, who cared if their teacher was late sometimes. It must mean that he’s more laid back than Iruka sensei. He loved Iruka, but he sure was strict sometimes about timeliness when arriving to class and turning in homework. Naruto typically had a good idea of time, and had every intention of doing things on time. It just never seemed to turn out that way. It’s not like he was intentionally late with everything. He figured Kakashi sensei must be the same way, so he couldn’t fault the guy.

The three stood on the bridge for another 15 minutes, making some small talk about what their mission might be, but staying mostly silent. It wasn’t a particularly uncomfortable silence though. Naruto felt like he was getting more used to his teammates, even though it was only the second day. He had thought Sasuke would be more difficult to get along with, but he had been quiet all morning. Sakura had been trying to talk to both of them, but Naruto was the only one really returning the conversation. He didn’t realize how easy it would be to talk to Sakura, who had been his crush for over a year in academy. He still liked her, but he found that his crush didn’t seem as rampant now that they were on the same team.

Kakashi appeared on the other side of the bridge, and watched the three as they talked for a minute before any of them realized he was there. He walked over and looked down at the three grinning children (though only two of them were actually grinning, one looked like he was maybe capable of smiling, but certainly wasn’t doing it now).

“Alright then, I hope you’re ready for your very first mission as team 7,” he said, taking a sheet of paper out of his pocket and unfolding it. He had swung by the mission office before meeting his team so that he wouldn’t have to hear their complaints when they were assigned it. Knowing Naruto’s ambitions, he wouldn’t be very pleased with their D rank mission.

“I’m so ready, Kakashi sensei! Lay it on us, we can handle whatever you give us! I hope it's exciting and dangerous,” Naruto said, almost jumping up and down, unable to contain his excitement. He had been waiting for this day for years. He always admired the older ninja who came back to the village from whatever their top secret awesome missions were. He wanted to be even better than them.

“Hold your horses. You’re only genin, and this is your first mission. Usually the only missions genin go on are D rank missions, like this one I have for you today. Now, before I tell you what we’ve been hired to do, I want to remind you that we are being paid to do this job, so you need to show some respect and manners,” Kakashi said, looking at Naruto.

“We’re getting paid too! Alright! Let’s get started, what is it Kakashi sensei?” Naruto exclaimed.

“Today, we will be… farming…” Kakashi said. The three children stared blankly at him.

Naruto broke into laughter, clutching his side. “Ha! Good one! So what’s our real mission?”

“That is your mission for today. It is a D rank mission, and you will all receive an 5,000 ryo stipend as payment once you finish the job. We will be heading over to a farm west of the village, and you will help plant soybeans.”

“What?!” Naruto shouted. “You have got to be kidding me! We’re ninja, not farmers! I don’t even know how to plant soybeans, why do we have to do this?”

“Just shut up, would you! If we don’t do these kinds of missions, we’ll never get better ones,” Sakura said, slapping him upside the head. Naruto rubbed the sore spot where the back of her hand had made contact. He knew she was right, but he wasn’t happy about it. He had never done any sort of gardening or farming before. How could he when he lived in a government subsidized apartment?

Naruto decided to stop complaining, knowing he would only receive more physical abuse from Sakura if he didn’t. He looked over at Sasuke, who still hadn’t said anything since their teacher had arrived. He wondered what the boy was thinking. Sasuke didn’t look like the kind of guy who liked farming either. He knew the other boy wanted to start real training with Kakashi and advance as a ninja just as much as he wanted to, so he was probably just as annoyed with this mission. Naruto thought that if things kept up this way, maybe he’d have to ask Sasuke to train with him so they could at least do something worthwhile with their time.

***

Naruto’s silence didn’t last long. As soon as they arrived at the farm, the farmer’s son, Tsumaru, met the group in the already-tilled field to explain to them how they would plant the crop and where they could find all the necessary tools. He explained that his father had recently thrown out his back and that he could not possibly do all the work himself, so they had hired help from the leaf village so they could get everything planted on time. The man, looking to be not much older than Kakashi, showed them to a barn with everything they’d need, and explained that he would be working in a nearby field if they had any questions.

“What does he mean ‘if we have any questions’? I have a question, why the hell do we have to do this? This is going to take hours! That field was huge,” Naruto started.

“What did I tell you? You are genin, these are the missions you get for now. Tomorrow we will begin some basic training, so stop complaining and get out there,” Kakashi said, tossing Naruto a hand shovel and a hefty bag of seeds. The other two followed suit, grabbing the necessary tools and bags of seeds. The group headed out into the field, splitting up to get the job done as quickly as possible.

“You know, if you taught us some kinda farming jutsu or something before this, it would be a lot easier,” Naruto called out to Kakashi, who was already walking to the other end of the small field, ignoring him. Naruto grumbled and got down on his knees, plunging his little shovel into the dirt. The farmer’s son had told them to dig rows that were about one and a half inches deep, spaced about 15 inches apart. The locations of the rows were already marked with sticks along the length of the field, they just had to be dug up and planted. If the farmer had already managed to do this much, Naruto didn’t understand why he needed their help for the last part.

Naruto got about ten feet before taking a break. He sat down in the dirt and wiped the sweat off his brow. He looked over to Sakura, who was much further into her own row than he was. She almost looked like she was smiling, though he would never understand why. He already felt dirty, and it took a lot to make Naruto want a shower.

To his left, Sasuke was also making good time and getting a decent amount of work done. Naruto saw a small rock on the ground next to him and picked it up, deciding to chuck it at the Uchiha. It missed his head by a foot or so, but got close enough to blow the boy’s hair further into his face. Sasuke looked up at Naruto and scowled, before grabbing another rock from the dirt and sending it flying toward the blond, hitting him square in the forehead.

“Ouch! What the hell did you do that for?” he yelled back at Sasuke.

“You’re the one who threw something at me first. Figures, you wouldn’t even be able to hit me,” Sasuke said with a snort before looking back down at his work. Naruto frowned. He had actually been trying not to hit Sasuke, but it wouldn’t hurt to actually land a hit this time.

He searched in the dirt for another small rock, big enough to sting a little but not do any damage if it struck the other boy. He tossed it up in the air a few inches and let it land back in his palm before settling his grip around the small object. Aiming right at Sasuke’s stomach, he waited for a moment when he was sure the boy wasn’t looking. He wound up his arm and released, sending the pebble flying, faster than the previous one. It hissed as it flew through the air and struck square above Sasuke’s belly button.

The black haired boy let out a small cough as the rock hit him but stayed otherwise unmoved in his spot. He glanced at Naruto, and the blond recognized the murderous look in his eyes that he’d seen before. Sasuke reached down and clutched a handful of dirt, spraying it toward Naruto’s face before Naruto even had the time to react.

Naruto sprung into action, immediately flinging dirt back. The two threw dirt, rocks, and even their shovels back and forth at each other for a long minute before Kakashi was suddenly standing between the two of them. The two stared at their sensei as the dust slowly settled around them.

“What the hell is wrong with you two?” Kakashi said coldly, looking back and forth between the two genin that were caked in dirt.

“Sasuke was being annoying! I didn’t even do anything,” Naruto started explaining, loudly.

“Naruto, I saw you throw the first rock. Whatever it is between you two, you need to work it out. You’re both going to finish up here, and then run ten miles when we get back to the village. I don’t want to hear any complaints. Do you hear me?” Kakashi said firmly, staring at Naruto in particular. The two grumbled their “fine”s and walked back to where they were working individually.

From the looks of it, it would take another half hour just to finish up the row Naruto was currently working on, and then there were several more that they would all have to do to finish planting the entire field. He knew that stupid missions like this were what kept the economy going and blah blah blah but it was stupid. There was no point in him planting soybeans so inefficiently for some stuck up farmer. He didn’t even like soybeans.

Naruto continued digging and planting, and eventually got into a bit of a rhythm. He finished the first row and moved to the second, getting about halfway through before his pace slowed again and his mind got distracted. He started to feel hungry. They’d only been working for maybe an hour, but the sun was endlessly bright and hot and he hadn’t eaten breakfast that morning. Neither had Sasuke.

Sasuke. The boy who Naruto had inexplicably invited over last night. And it surprisingly hadn’t seemed weird at all when he was there at Naruto’s apartment. The two simply ate dinner and went to bed, as if they were friends that did that all the time. Maybe they were friends, or at least maybe there was a chance they could become friends? Naruto still got insanely annoyed just by Sasuke’s presence sometimes with how smug he acted, but when they were actively doing something, Naruto couldn’t help but feel the need to beat Sasuke in some imaginary competition. And the way Sasuke typically responded must mean that he felt just as competitive.

Naruto wanted to test this dynamic somehow, wanted to see how far they could push each other. He wanted to beat Sasuke in some ultimate nonexistent competition, become stronger than the other boy. But he also didn’t necessarily want the other boy to fail. Not that Naruto had ever wanted anyone to fail, he had always wanted to succeed and be the best that he possibly could, but he had never really thought about the success of his classmates since they had always ignored him or made fun of him. He had always simply wanted to surpass them and show them that he was worthy, of their attention, of their praise, of their respect.

He felt a familiar feeling bubble up inside of him all of a sudden. This time the presence did not take its time in gradually appearing in Naruto’s subconscious. It appeared quickly and made its presence known. His stomach felt uneasy, as if the breakfast he hadn’t eaten was planning on making a reappearance.

_~You will never be as good as the Uchiha boy.~_

Naruto heard the snarling voice in his head and shuddered. His first thought was to wonder how the creature even knew Sasuke’s identity, but then he realized it must certainly have access to all of his thoughts.

_~Foolish child. I know much more than you are aware of.~_

He continued to ignore the voice. He knew it must be the nine tailed fox, and he would not give the demon the satisfaction of a conversation. He stared at the dirt, forcing his hands to work faster while the creature’s presence stayed put in the forefront of his mind. He finished planting the rest of the row in record time and moved onto the next, pushing himself to go faster and faster, as if finishing his work would allow him to outrun the demon within him.

_~You can’t ignore me forever.~_

Naruto concentrated so hard on both the task at hand and on actively pushing away the nine tails that by the time he finished his portion of the field, he hadn’t realized how far ahead of his teammates he was. He reached the section that Sakura had begun with, letting him know that he had completed his entire section of the field, and he snapped out of his hardline focus. Looking around the field, he saw that Sakura had two and a half full rows left, and Sasuke was just starting his last row. He noticed the raven haired boy glare at him from across the field. Grinning as he realized that he had finished before Sasuke, he stood and walked over to where Sakura was working.

“Hey Sakura! Need any help finishing up?” he asked her. She frowned, upset at the implication that she couldn’t finish what she was assigned, but then realized that teamwork was important, and she was sick of this stupid dirt.

“Oh, uh, sure, Naruto…” she said, still surprised that he had finished so quickly and that he would be jumping at the opportunity to do more work rather than take a nap or something.

***

Once the team had finished planting the entire field, it was after noon, and the farmer’s son, Tsumaru, thanked them and offered them lunch which the three starving children happily accepted on behalf of their teacher. The man led them through the door of the little farmhouse, shepherding them into the kitchen where they all sat down at the table. Kakashi stayed standing defensively in a corner where he could watch his children, the farmer, and the door.

A woman appeared suddenly, welcoming Tsumaru back with a small kiss before greeting the four ninja in the room with a friendly smile. Naruto could smell that food had already been prepared, and looked to see piles of rice, vegetables, and dumplings that he hoped were for him and his teammates.

“I hope you’re all hungry! Tsumaru told me you would all be here helping out today, so I made sure to make plenty of extra food. I heard shinobi can have quite the appetite!” said the woman, who they later learned was Tsumaru’s wife, Umemi.

“Thank you, we really appreciate it. You have a beautiful home.” Kakashi said, beginning to make small talk with the other adults while the three genin dug into the food that was placed before them. Without having to say anything, Naruto and Sasuke began another silent competition, this time to see who could eat the most in the least amount of time. Naruto was used to eating fast and sloppily, but he found it quite funny seeing Sasuke stuff his face trying to beat Naruto. Sasuke was usually so… proper. At least, he wasn’t usually a pig like Naruto, but today the two made a mess once again as they tore into their meal.

Sakura simply rolled her eyes, realizing that there was nothing she could do about the rivalry that was growing between her teammates. She would never admit that she also found it kind of amusing, watching the two act like complete animals. She silently rooted for Sasuke, and was delighted when he slammed his chopsticks on the table, signifying he had finished his plate before Naruto had. The score for the day was now even.

***

When the team arrived back at the village, Kakashi sent them away so that he could quickly write up their report and go to the mission office by himself. He would eventually teach them about the ins and outs of writing detailed mission reports, but today was not the day. He figured he’d collect their payment and dish it out tomorrow. He didn’t need Naruto complaining in front of anyone else. He sent Sakura home for the day, then stopped the two boys who had both been relatively silent on the journey back. At least, they hadn’t argued with each other. Naruto was about as loud as he usually was.

“Alright, I wasn’t kidding when I said you guys had to run when we got back. Go, ten miles. Report back to me at training grounds 8 when you’re finished.” He said, walking off and leaving the two standing there alone. Naruto looked over at Sasuke who held a blank expression on his face.

“This’ll be a piece of cake, you ready?” Naruto said.

“Yeah, if you can keep up with me,” Sasuke said before running off.

“Hey, wait for me, asshole!” Naruto yelled, running after the other boy. The two ran through the forest trails without any plan for their route. They both could judge a mile pretty easily and knew it would take them about an hour to run ten miles if they kept their pace. Only Sasuke actually wore a watch, but Naruto was sure he could judge time decently well.

They ran in silence, each pushing the other’s pace. Sasuke was several feet ahead of Naruto for most of the run, but Naruto was close behind at all times. By the time they had gone about five miles, they began to take a wide loop back so that they ended somewhat near where they started. They would still have a bit of a walk back after the ten miles was up though. Naruto wasn’t sure if they would walk that last stretch together, or if Sasuke would just take off without him.

While they ran, the thrill of the competition began to stress Naruto out yet again. The same feeling that overcame him in the field earlier that day now began to surface. As if a door opened, he suddenly felt the presence of the nine tails in his mind for the second time that day. It felt as if the fox was so far forward in his head that it was looking through his eyeballs into the world. Naruto winced, and his pace started to slow. He couldn’t run as well when his gut felt so uneasy. He saw Sasuke continue without him.

“What’s the matter, dobe? Getting tired already? We still have like another three miles left, I thought this was supposed to be easy,” Sasuke teased, still increasing the distance between the two. Naruto hissed at Sasuke’s words and ramped up his own pace, still fighting the demon’s presence that was having a strange physical impact on his body.

He felt his chakra surge, and with a burst of energy, he sped forward, quickly catching up to Sasuke and passing him. Sasuke stared at Naruto’s back with wide eyes, wondering what gave the boy so much energy. Not that Sasuke was even close to being too tired, but he didn’t have it in him to speed up at this point. He continued at the fastest pace he could, determined to not let the blond beat him for a second time today.

Naruto zoomed through the trees on the path, and he felt a sour taste in his mouth. A darkness began to seep through his body, and he felt a strange chakra combine with his own. He momentarily forgot about the competition with Sasuke, and just felt the urge to charge forward as fast as he could. He felt endless energy that he had never experienced before, but it didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel like his own chakra, which he was somewhat familiar with. He didn’t want to admit to himself that he thought it might be the nine tails’ chakra, because he didn’t want to face the fact that he didn’t have complete control over the beast.

Behind him, Sasuke watched and noticed that Naruto seemed to be glowing with a faint red outline. That’s strange, Sasuke thought, never ceasing to be surprised by how much power Naruto seemed to have. His eyes narrowed. Regardless of whatever power he had, Sasuke was obviously much stronger. Naruto was still just a little brat. He raced after the blond boy, almost catching up before watching as Naruto tore into an all out sprint, even using his hands to propel him forward on the ground in an animal like fashion. This was not something Sasuke had ever seen Naruto do. No matter how often he acted stupid, he never acted like an animal like this during training.

A thought occurred to Sasuke that something might be wrong. It wasn’t like him to care about anyone, especially not Naruto, but the boy looked almost… dangerous. Sasuke chased after him, finishing the original ten miles and following Naruto through the woods back towards town.

In Naruto’s head, a war was occurring. He knew the chakra that his body was using did not belong to him, and he wanted to stop. He screamed out loud, wanting the demon to go away, to regress to whatever dungeon it usually presided in. Not paying any attention to where he was going, he continued to run. The demon did not speak to him this time, just crept forward in his mind and slowly pumped its chakra into his veins.

“Go away!” Naruto screamed out, mentally fighting the presence. He felt it budge. He knew if he kept pushing, he could hopefully shove it back to where it came from. Still running, he suddenly burst into a clearing at the edge of the forest. He skidded to a stop, realizing he was at the edge of town, and that he couldn’t let anyone from the village see him like this. They would think even worse of him, and he couldn’t handle that.

Naruto suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back, and his body was shoved forward forcefully as Sasuke kicked him from behind. Immediately, he snapped out of the fight in his head, sending the demon flying back to its usually dormant state. He landed on the ground, scraping his hands and knees in stopping his momentum. Slowly getting up, he brushed his hands off on his pants and turned to look at Sasuke, who stood behind him, expressionless.

“Hey asshole! Why did you kick me?” Naruto yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at the Uchiha.

“You were screaming and acting like a freak. What happened?” Sasuke asked, but his voice didn’t carry the bite of insult that it was usually laced with.

“Oh, I guess I just got too much into the competition. Couldn’t let you beat me,” Naruto said, forcing a laugh, but wondering what Sasuke had seen. He looked around, beginning to recognize where he was. They were probably a 15 minute walk from the training grounds where they were supposed to report back to Kakashi. He wasn’t sure how long they’d been out for their run, knowing they blew through the first ten miles quickly, but unsure of how much longer he’d been running after that. He glanced over at Sasuke.

“Hey, uh, what time is it?” he asked.

“It’s 5:30. We should probably go meet Kakashi before it gets too late,” Sasuke replied as if reading Naruto’s mind. The two walked in the direction of the training ground where they had been instructed to meet their teacher. They walked in silence again. Sasuke wasn’t sure if he should say anything, or what he would even say. His mind was racing with the events he had just witnessed. Naruto had turned red and tore through the forest faster than Sasuke could ever run. The boy always seemed to have boundless energy, but this seemed like something had almost overtaken him. Sasuke figured it wasn’t his place to pry. They reported back to Kakashi, and he immediately headed home without saying another word to Naruto.

***


End file.
